Rocky Mountain Audio Fest coming next!!!!

[jazdoc]

Hi Don, a big welcome to the WBF from me. Since you're a fan of Basie, this one's for you.

Al Grey, The Last of the Big Plungers: Named after the big rubber toilet-plunger mute (see the album cover below) used by Grey, this album shows that Basie does not have the monopoly on swing. Grey (acclaimed trombonist from Dizzie Gillespie's big band) is joined by seven Basietes - Joe Newman, Billy Mitchell, Benny Powell, Charlie Fowlkes, Ed Jones, Floyd Morris and Sonny Payne. While the 50-year-old copy I played at the show was a little noisy, the music more than made up for it. Once the music starts, you don't hear the surface noise at all. What is recorded is a driving swing coupled with relaxed ease that only excellent musicians in the groove have.

The original Argo deep groove stereo album may be a little difficult to find, but well worth the while to hunt down a good copy. Unlike many of the stereo studio albums of the era, the instruments are not panned hard right/hard left and the soundstage and imaging is very natural. I used Side A Track 2 of this album a lot to illustrate two of the characteristics of the Genesis loudspeakers:

1. the fact that there is a large sweet spot - in any of the 9 seats in the room, the trombone of Al Grey images in the middle between the two speakers. Moving the head from side to side or up and down did not make the imaging or tonality vary significantly.

• 
  because the speakers generate a sound wave and does not beam, I can stand between one speaker and the listener and the image doesn't change (since the room was a little too small, it did vary a bit) and the shadow of someone standing between the listener and loudspeaker doesn't cause the soundstage to collapse. I think that I astounded quite a number of listeners when I illustrated this with the tiny G7p bookshelf on Sunday. When I do this with one of the large Genesis line-source speakers, I can see that in the minds of the listeners, they think "yah, but the speakers are so large that you aren't really blocking them". With the G7p, I completely block off the speaker, but not the sound wave, and if I am careful not to stand too close to the speaker or too close to the listener, the image and tonality does not change enough to be very noticeable.

The follow-up album to this one "A Thinking Man's Trombone" is not as well performed in my opinion, but still very good and another treasured 50-year old album in my collection.

(I've been told that my album covers are too large, so in future I'll reduce them to this size)
View attachment 12238​

+1!

Although, I consider the mono version of "Thinking Man's Trombone" a sonic treasure. It has become one of my go to mono reference LPs.

Gary - I'm starting to get the feeling that you and I are bidding against each other on Ebay

 

[Don]

Thanks for the recommendations and comments! I don't have those, but I'll add them to the music acquisition radar for sure. I've also been on the prowl for "88 Basie Street" (I tend to haunt local shops before eBay), but I may simply order the XRCD to enjoy it while hunting for the right LP.

Hi Don, a big welcome to the WBF from me. Since you're a fan of Basie, this one's for you.

Al Grey, The Last of the Big Plungers: Named after the big rubber toilet-plunger mute (see the album cover below) used by Grey, this album shows that Basie does not have the monopoly on swing. Grey (acclaimed trombonist from Dizzie Gillespie's big band) is joined by seven Basietes - Joe Newman, Billy Mitchell, Benny Powell, Charlie Fowlkes, Ed Jones, Floyd Morris and Sonny Payne. While the 50-year-old copy I played at the show was a little noisy, the music more than made up for it. Once the music starts, you don't hear the surface noise at all. What is recorded is a driving swing coupled with relaxed ease that only excellent musicians in the groove have.

The original Argo deep groove stereo album may be a little difficult to find, but well worth the while to hunt down a good copy. Unlike many of the stereo studio albums of the era, the instruments are not panned hard right/hard left and the soundstage and imaging is very natural. I used Side A Track 2 of this album a lot to illustrate two of the characteristics of the Genesis loudspeakers:

1. the fact that there is a large sweet spot - in any of the 9 seats in the room, the trombone of Al Grey images in the middle between the two speakers. Moving the head from side to side or up and down did not make the imaging or tonality vary significantly.

• 
  because the speakers generate a sound wave and does not beam, I can stand between one speaker and the listener and the image doesn't change (since the room was a little too small, it did vary a bit) and the shadow of someone standing between the listener and loudspeaker doesn't cause the soundstage to collapse. I think that I astounded quite a number of listeners when I illustrated this with the tiny G7p bookshelf on Sunday. When I do this with one of the large Genesis line-source speakers, I can see that in the minds of the listeners, they think "yah, but the speakers are so large that you aren't really blocking them". With the G7p, I completely block off the speaker, but not the sound wave, and if I am careful not to stand too close to the speaker or too close to the listener, the image and tonality does not change enough to be very noticeable.

The follow-up album to this one "A Thinking Man's Trombone" is not as well performed in my opinion, but still very good and another treasured 50-year old album in my collection.

(I've been told that my album covers are too large, so in future I'll reduce them to this size)
​

 

[garylkoh]

+1!

Although, I consider the mono version of "Thinking Man's Trombone" a sonic treasure. It has become one of my go to mono reference LPs.

Gary - I'm starting to get the feeling that you and I are bidding against each other on Ebay

One of these days, I need to think about getting a mono cartridge, because I keep being told that to really listen to a mono recording, I need a mono cartridge, and not just listen in mono.

Jazdoc, I would 't be surprised if we are bidding against each other and also prowling the same thrift shop bins

 

[garylkoh]

Thanks for the recommendations and comments! I don't have those, but I'll add them to the music acquisition radar for sure. I've also been on the prowl for "88 Basie Street" (I tend to haunt local shops before eBay), but I may simply order the XRCD to enjoy it while hunting for the right LP.

You're most welcome, Don. I've got one thrashed early pressing of 88 Basie Street, and I mostly listen to the JVC XRCD. Still hunting. Still hunting.... hope to get to it before jazdoc grabs it.

 

[flez007]

I have always liked what Gary spins at shows, music first! .. thanks again Gary!

 

[garylkoh]

I have always liked what Gary spins at shows, music first! .. thanks again Gary!

Thanks for taking the time to come in!! You must have been busy in your room. I managed to only visit one other room this year.

 

[flez007]

I wished it was my room - I was just helping George with the silver discs while he briefed visitors at his room about his design, but yes.. I managed to visit a dozen or less rooms this year.

 

[garylkoh]

A track that got a lot of play was "Everybody Plays the Fool" by Aaron Neville. I first heard this in Mike Lavigne's room and took a liking to it, and started hunting it down. The best copy I have is this one - from a DJ re-mix maxi-single; the last track is the "LP version".

Even though it is a 33rpm, the width of the track the song is on is at least twice that on the original album and almost as wide as on the 45rpm. I thought that I preferred this to the 45rpm because it sounded more natural to me with better dynamics to boot.

​

 

[garylkoh]

One album that was very, very well received during both CES and the New York Audio Show was Touch Yello. During both those shows, I had the G2Jr with me and having two 12-inch powered woofers on each speaker, the album showed off the bass capabilities wonderfully.

While the smaller stand-mount G7p and G7c speakers could play jazz with electric bass and double bass, they failed with The Expert and Bostich Reflected (Side A Track 1 and Track 4). Both these tracks have some astonishing low bass that made everyone ask where I had hidden away the subwoofers.

I heard The Expert coming out from some other rooms with over-boosted boomy bass, so I think I'll retire this one here. It's an excellent album though, and I think one of Yello's rare gems with more than one/two listenable tracks.

​

 

[Don]

Probably the most frequently played album at this show is still one of my favorites. After playing it 5 times a day, it is still my favorite big band jazz album of all time.

Count Basie did one very famous album in 1983 - 88 Basie Street. This won a Grammy, is recommended by both Stereophile and Absolute Sound, and over-shadowed what I thought to be the better album that was released just a few months earlier - Me and You. As a result there are various re-issues of 88 Basie Street in vinyl and digital (I think the best is the 1997 JVC XRCD), but unfortunately there was only the first 1983 vinyl release of Me and You (in US, France and Germany). If it is available on CD, I don't know of it.

You're most welcome, Don. I've got one thrashed early pressing of 88 Basie Street, and I mostly listen to the JVC XRCD. Still hunting. Still hunting.... hope to get to it before jazdoc grabs it.

Hello again! I picked up a nice Verve/Polydor Japan CD of "88 Basie Street" (the XRCDs got expensive lately!) and I gave it a spin in the car here and there this week, finally giving it a good listen in the music library last night and this evening. I have to agree with you, "Me and You" is the better album. My impression is that 88 Basie Street is "too ... something" but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe "not enough ... something" might be more like it. The solos seem too tame, the arrangements too clean, perhaps too sterile, too "studio" or something. Not sure exactly, but that's my impression. "Me and You" cooks with terrific feeling, better dynamics actually (could be mastering anomaly on the CD?) and just seems more musical to me. I bet it makes a terrific show demo album for sure!

Anyway, enough rambling ... back to listening. Thanks again for the great discussion!

 

[jazdoc]

You're most welcome, Don. I've got one thrashed early pressing of 88 Basie Street, and I mostly listen to the JVC XRCD. Still hunting. Still hunting.... hope to get to it before jazdoc grabs it.

You are safe , I've already got a copy

 

[garylkoh]

Hello again! I picked up a nice Verve/Polydor Japan CD of "88 Basie Street" (the XRCDs got expensive lately!) and I gave it a spin in the car here and there this week, finally giving it a good listen in the music library last night and this evening. I have to agree with you, "Me and You" is the better album. My impression is that 88 Basie Street is "too ... something" but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe "not enough ... something" might be more like it. The solos seem too tame, the arrangements too clean, perhaps too sterile, too "studio" or something. Not sure exactly, but that's my impression. "Me and You" cooks with terrific feeling, better dynamics actually (could be mastering anomaly on the CD?) and just seems more musical to me. I bet it makes a terrific show demo album for sure!

Anyway, enough rambling ... back to listening. Thanks again for the great discussion!

Hello again, Don. I agree with you. 88 Basie Street sounds like it's too studio and the musicians are trying hard, but not getting into the pocket. Sonics are great, but it doesn't have the feeling and gumption(?) of Me and You. I'm trying to find a good copy 1st issue on vinyl to be sure that it's not just a CD mastering anomaly. I don't believe that Me and You has been issued on CD, so I'm currently comparing the XRCD of 88 (and a really bad vinyl) vs the pristine copies of Me and You that I have.

 

[LL21]

Hello again, Don. I agree with you. 88 Basie Street sounds like it's too studio and the musicians are trying hard, but not getting into the pocket. Sonics are great, but it doesn't have the feeling and gumption(?) of Me and You. I'm trying to find a good copy 1st issue on vinyl to be sure that it's not just a CD mastering anomaly. I don't believe that Me and You has been issued on CD, so I'm currently comparing the XRCD of 88 (and a really bad vinyl) vs the pristine copies of Me and You that I have.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Me-You-Coun...=1382868583&sr=8-12&keywords=me+and+you+basie

Me and You by Countie Basie on CD. Is this the one?

 

[hvbias]

For performance and sound quality Duke Ellington and Ray Brown, This One's For Blanton is my favorite Pablo release. They also released a lot of great Coltrane concerts, though the sound quality is spotty on many of them.

 

[garylkoh]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Me-You-Coun...=1382868583&sr=8-12&keywords=me+and+you+basie

Me and You by Countie Basie on CD. Is this the one?

Yes!

I'm surprised as Discogs doesn't even list a CD release.
http://www.discogs.com/Count-And-His-Orchestra-Me-And-You/master/442036